China's Three Gorges Dam will discharge more water to alleviate the extreme drought in the downstream Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake.
The China Three Gorges Corporation said it will "take full advantage of its reserves from the flood season and gradually increase its compensation standard to downstream rivers during the dry season to alleviate the dam's impact on Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake regions," news portal caixin.com reported.
Poyang Lake's water level has dramatically declined since October this year, with water hitting low levels about 54 days sooner than the average of previous years. The lake has also suffered from periods of extreme drought in the past decade, with hydrological experts suspecting the Three Gorges Dam is to blame.
China Three Gorges Corporation, however, denied the accusations, saying its reserves takes place in September and October, while the dry season for Poyang Lake is from December to February.
"During this dry period, the dam actually provides more water than the natural flow, which is around 2,000 square meters per second," the company wrote in an email sent to Caixin.
